The media performance in Berlin is designed as a trilogy and presented at three different stations:

1st Hoisting of the flag in the participating embassies. 2nd Media installation of the virtual LIFE FLAG in public space (Schlossplatz in Berlin-Mitte) 3rdLight installation at Martin-Gropius-Bau on occasion of the performance life propagation

1st station:

The closely meshed net of embassies in Berlin â Europeâs capital of embassies â shall be used to send out a message. A flag with a universal motif, hoisted in approximately 80 diplomatic missions and the State Department of the Federal Republic of Germany symbolizes unity within the plurality of languages, cultures and countries. The event in Berlin is supposed to be the starting point for further art events with the aim to spread and develop the message via the dense net of embassies and the global communication channels.

Motif of the flag

The motif of the flag is based on the visualization of bacterial cells from a historical dust sample. Using the technique of Fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) Dr. Annette Moter and her team at the Institute of Microbiology and Hygiene (IMH), Charite University Hospital Berlin, stained the 16S ribosomal RNA (rRNA) of bacteria. Specific fluorescent oligonucleotide probes bind to their target ribosomal RNA in the small subunit of the bacterial ribosome and can be used to visualize and discriminate different microorganisms. The investigated sample containing Sahara dust was found in southern Italy and given to Alexander von Humboldt as a gift in 1823, who later passed it on to Florens Chladni. As part of a global phenomenon, the desert dust was carried by winds from Africa to Europe. This way, Sahara dust reaches far away regions of the world and the microorganisms that are attached to the sand particles help to protect and nourish seemingly alien ecosystems. The Humboldt dust sample is now property of the Ehrenberg collection and stored in the Museum of Natural History in Berlin. At the initiative of Sabine Kacunko the microorganisms contained in this sample were reactivated and reanimated in the Robert Koch Forum, one of the historically most interesting scientific institutions in Berlin.

Diplomatic reception and exhibition opening in the Robert Koch Fourm

The Robert Koch Forum is the location of the exhibition about the media performance. In terms of sciences, it is on of the most prestegious institutes in Berlin. Here, interdisciplinary thinking has alway played an important role and the cooperation between scientists has led to some of the most important discoveries of our times.

Irinia Urusova of Russia, student of agricultural sciences at the Humboldt University Berlin performs the world premier of the LIFE FLAG anthem: 'Hymnus Ocenaobacillus Pulvireantus', composed especially for Sabine Kacunko's media performance by Ari Benjamin Meyers

Humboldt's Philharmonic Chorus

Under the LIFE FLAG, people with different cultural backgrounds and of various disciplines step into dialogue with each other. Humboldt's Philharmonic Chorus, conducted by Prof. Constantin Alex performs the soundperformance 'Chorale Oceanobacillus Pulvirenatus' (composition by Ari Benjamin Meyers, concept by Sabine Kacunko), which transforms the scientific data of the newly discovered sequence into an esthetic body of sound.

Station II

Installation on Schlossplatz (Castle Plaza) in Berlin-Mitte

The place, where soon the new Humboldt-Forum will be built and which, therefore, is symbol for Berlin's willingness to step into international and interdisciplinary dialogue, is also the place, where the LIFE FLAG communicates with the public.

Without being restricted by a pole, the LIFE FLAG moves in public space. The movements are calculated on the basis of the wind coordinates that are transmitted live from the participating nations.